I work in a large Canadian museum. I’m curious if other Canadians (or Americans) have speculative thoughts on how this tariff war might affect the museums industry in Canada, USA and Mexico? Any word from your respective institutions?

Does anyone have experience getting a museum job in the UK, coming from the US? I see that Museum Officer is on the UK critical skills list, and would love to make the move, but could use advice. I have 10+ years experience in natural history and heritage museums, in community engagement, events, and visitor services. I have found the amazing job listings board (thank you!). Any tips for my applications? Or for finding out more about museum life in the UK? Thank you!

I’m looking at a lot of places and most require MLIS or MHP degrees. I have a MA in History but also an additional Certificate in HP. Is there anyway I can enter the field with a semi-decent job? (I have experience in research and academic experience in exhibit design, installation, processing, etc.)

Does anyone know if the fellowship is running for 2025-26? I’m a fairly recent art history bachelors grad and have applied to the brooklyn museum education fellowship in the past and disappointingly did not get it. I now have more professional experience and was feeling very confident about applying this year or the next but only see information about last year’s application on their website. Anything similar I should be looking at instead?

Is it even smart to pursue museum jobs in DC/at Smithsonians/NGA right now? It’s always been a goal of mine but I’m scared that if ai got an opportunity, it would be dissolved by this presidential administration. Would love some thoughts and advice from those more knowledgeable than me! Thanks all!

How do you define a non-traditional museum? What does it mean to you?

https://www.wxxinews.org/local-news/2025-01-30/union-push-moves-forward-at-strong-national-museum-of-play

For people that work front desk at any of the NYC galleries, I want to take maybe a group of <15 people gallery hopping. It would be mid afternoon hours on a Tuesday/Wednesday.

I would hate to be of inconvenience, is this something you guys would prefer further heads up about through email or is just showing up randomly with a group generally okay?

Thanks

Does anyone know of a company that will send a physical catalog for GLAM? I know most everything can be done online but I believe having a physical copy can help me make informed choices about what products to get when I present to my board.

I have photos of my grandma who was in the USAF, (says highest rank - capt USAF and says she was an intelligence officer) a letter of her briefly talking about Adolph Hitler, articles of her interviews talking about being on the ground for d-day. Tons of old style film photos of her travels.

These items are stored in my basement. They feel valuable to me, but I could be biased. Is there anywhere that this could benefit our country? Like a museum? Not sure where to start.

Edit- I posted this in ask historians and was asked to move it here.

Someone brought up DEI concerns and said I shouldn’t part with them right now- so how should I store these to protect them? Frames?

Hello! I am currently a senior majoring in history. I have been very fortunate in my time at school to land an internship at a historical society (really loved this work) where I earned my CIG training and certification, I have worked on/off at a prestigious art museum in Colorado, and also interned for the same county being placed in administration at the Senior Center for more experience in the behind the scenes stuff/management tasks. I want to continue working in environments like the historical society, being able to bridge together local history and making it more accessible for community members but I also know the pay is not the most practical. I am mostly on loans and am not opposed to taking out more if in the long run I will be able to have a more substantial career, but how necessary is it? Could I still branch into smaller institutions without or will I never be able to obtain a role in Education or Programming? I am not as interested in the curatorial side, rather working with other local groups and orgs and improving community outreach.

Sorry this is long and I hope it made sense! I look forward to feedback!

Abstract

Between the 1960s and early-1980s the museum sector in the United Kingdom (UK) was rapidly professionalised and systematised. A crucial moment in this transition was the creation in 1967 of the Information Retrieval Group of the Museums Association (IRGMA), and the subsequent launch of its system for the machine encoding and communication of museum catalogue records. The rise of IRGMA marked an inflection point in museological practice and the normalisation of computerised work within the UK museum profession, a moment when the desire for a ‘layman's guide to the scheme’ began to give way to new professional personas and forms of documentary labour. This article asks how cultures of museology and professional labour shifted in response to IRGMA. It argues that between the late 1960s and mid-1980s both the implementation of and the debate around computerised cataloguing disrupted the function of UK museums and how museum professionals imagined their labour. And by tracing the emergence of these cultures and their intersections with professional identity and labour practices, this article seeks to tease out the ways museum history can resonate with wider narratives of labour, expertise and technological innovation in contemporary British history.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/transactions-of-the-royal-historical-society/article/providing-a-laymans-guide-to-the-scheme-museum-computing-professional-personas-and-documentary-labour-in-the-united-kingdom-19671983/44B416B39F13CEA237E43362C23344D5

I often see people in this sub that are interested in museum studies but they don’t know what they can do with their degree, or which degree they should get, or what other qualifications they need. I hope this help someone in addition to the information pinned in the sub already.

• Yes, you probably need a masters degree, maybe even two. If you want to do library work in museums or universities, MLIS plus a subject specialty in history, art history, etc. is common. Many museum educators have degrees in education and sometimes also a subject

• Yes, you should prioritize internships in the field while in school, or before or after. Many GLAM institutions value experience as much as education

• About internships, start at small museums at first, it may take multiple tries after already gaining experience to intern at large museums. There are a large number of qualified applicants

• No, you cannot do any museum job with any degree. Museum professionals are highly trained in their area, you should start with knowing what job you want, and then getting the degree that will get you there. Museum studies degrees are great for many things, but won’t get you far in curation, conservation, librarianship, etc.

• No, GLAM careers will not make you a millionaire. Please look at the median job rates for your area and consider the return on your investment

• An interest in collecting things or looking at art, or reading books does not necessarily make you suited for GLAM. Look up daily job duties and try something similar to see if you like it. You should also probably like school if you need a graduate degree

• Degrees are not always considered equivalent country to country. Going to school where you want to work is more convenient in some cases

A tip on how to find this information: look up the institution you are interested in working at. Then you can navigate to their staff page and review the positions currently filled, the staff profiles (what is their level of education, did they come from another field, etc.) you can even contact them and politely ask about their duties and role, if searching online does not help. Use this info to inform your own decisions!

Of course, nothing is impossible and unconventional routes exist, but I hope this is a useful starting point.

Hello, I’m currently in my masters program for Museum Studies and will graduate in summer of this year. I currently work as an archive assistant for a private artist. I’m trying to figure out what positions I should be applying for/ best fit my goals. I know that times are desperate and persistence is key! I’m also driven to get my dream job despite the challenges.

I have a history with programming and events as a library assistant. I also love creating exhibit designs, researching, and archival metadata and collection care. To say the least I’ve loved all kinds of aspects that come with working in museums. Ideally I don’t want to work directly with the public: I’m great at planning, budgeting, and organizing events but am v socially drained by active participation. I’m good with small groups but crowd work it’s my biggest nightmare. I like to say I’m the behind the curtain person, making the magic happen without being seen. What types of positions should I aim for? I know it’ll take time to get them and I’ll have to start at anything I can get- I’ve already been applying to everything I see. I wanted to see what advice you could give me as I start.

Also I love art, community engagement, and historical homes. My undergrad degree was in Cultural Resource Management Anthropology, art history, and folklore.

Hi! This is probably a stretch but has anyone moved from zoo work to museum work? Or can anyone give me some more insight if they think my skills can be transferrable?

I am a current zookeeper working with large mammals. My bachelors is in Zoology. And a recent job opened up at a local natural history museum for a collections technician in the zoology department. I am interested in this career path but I’m just not sure that my skills as a zookeeper will make me a competitive candidate.

TIA

Hi all, I'm currently in my second year of an art history undergraduate degree and am trying to build a list of grad programs to consider. I've always been kind of interested in doing grad school abroad, but I'm not sure if the degrees/skills would be easily transferable to US institutions (or, alternatively, if I'd be able to get a museum job in the UK as an American that would need visa sponsorship).

I'm specifically interested in jobs that are more along the lines of collections management/registrar or museum administration rather than curatorial ones, for context. If anyone has any insight or programs they would recommend (both in and outside of the US) for this kind of work, please let me know! :)

Good Morning!

I've had a request this morning from a company looking to 'purchase' a photograph we have in our collection (they saw it being used by CBC News). Putting aside that I will have to check we have any right to license it out (it's not a Provincial Archives copy etc), assuming all is gravy...how much do I charge them?

For personal use, we just charge $20 for an on-demand scan, and just request a donation of their choosing if we already have it digitized. But this will be for commercial use, and I'll be frank, the museum could really use the money, so I will be charging them based on their intended use.

1. Does your museum have an existing fee schedule for commercial use? What is it?
2. Do you have any existing licensing agreements I could review?

Cheers, I just need to figure out the middle ground between undercharging and being unreasonable.

The TLDR is as follows: I interviewed for a curator position and didn’t get the job. But what happened afterwards surprised me as it’s never happened and I welcome constructive feedback. The director of education and the position’s direct report—chief curator—have invited me into conversation with them to discuss ways they could support my career. Aside from speaking my name in closed-door rooms to refer me to future opportunities, I’m just about at a loss for how they could help me outside of hiring me for the job that they clearly just awarded some other qualified candidate.

Thoughts on how I could possibly leverage their support for greater curator/exhibition opportunities in the near future?

I work in a museum/aquarium in learning and development and wanted to connect with other folks in the space. I’m tasked with building out an entire L&D department where one hasn’t existed before and while I’m excited about the opportunity and challenge, it’s quite the undertaking. We don’t have a competency model, there’s no existing infrastructure, and budgets are nebulous. Essentially, I am dealing with a very exciting blank slate.

We have a huge diversity of roles - everything from normal business functions to biologists to floor staff to water quality managers to exhibits folks - and everything in between.

If you’re an L&D leader, how have you thought about building your offerings to cover such a wide range of skills? If you’re a museum pro, what’s working well for you at your organization?

I’m hoping to gain some perspective and resources as I develop an L&D strategy that works for my organization.

Thanks!

I'm a curator at a small regional museum and my director has tasked me with researching the provenance of our collection items from the 1933-1945 period. While I have experience with general collections documentation, I've never conducted focused WW2-era provenance research before and want to ensure I'm following best practices.

I'm looking for:

1. Recommended research methodologies and documentation standards
2. Key archives and databases to consult
3. Examples of red flags or concerning patterns to watch for

Thanks in advance for any resources or guidance you can share.

Most of the folks I work with come from the nonprofit world where donor benefits are a lot less common. However we have conditional benefits for our membership program and for donors who donate to our capital campaigns, galleries, and other initiatives. These benefits include discounts for the store, museum, and kids programming.

How the heckkkkk do yall acknowledge these donations on your books when those conditions should be subtracted from their donation AND attributed to that other revenue category (aka store, restaruant, etc)? We are a fairly new museum still figuring a lot of things out. Thanks for any input or external connections!

I guess this is just more of a rant/talking things through to get it off my chest. I am a collections person, I have a master's in museum studies and have worked several times as a registrar. I have a friend from my college days who is working in our field, I currently am not. He reached out to me recently and let me know there is an open position at his workplace and he would give me a good recommendation. He says his team is cool people who I would get along with (because he knows me personally to be a good judge of that and he and I would also work together and are friendly).

I am just kind of beating myself up over it because the job really IS NOT me. It's basically an educator position to create STEAM exhibits and lessons for children. I was never in the ed. Department, I have no training in that or teaching and I am vehemently childfree. I dont like being around children at all. I am a background type person who is happy to be one below the person in charge, be given tasks and be part of a team and get stuff DONE. I have no desire to be the head of the team and have to plan all of the things/ideas myself. I'm a creative person but I don't want everything to be on me as the lead.

For context, I live slightly outside of a BIG museum city and this is a museum job in the city. I would likely have 40 minutes to an hour plus ride both ways to this job, maybe more if there was bad traffic. I also grew up in the suburbs and physically cannot parallel park, I just cant. Everyone in my life is acting like I would be an idiot to not take a museum job in the highly competitive big city with an 'in'. I feel like I'm the only person that thinks it isn't a great idea. My friend who works there doesn't have kids and said he never saw himself working at a children's museum but he loves it and I just... don't think that will be my experience especially with the pressures of creating everything on my own with no experience in that field.

I'm writing a grant application right now, and the major piece of equipment I will need to purchase if we get the grant is an overhead scanner. A flatbed scanner is not realistic because we will be scanning a lot of books, and obviously, we can't crack a bunch of 19th century book spines. However, we won't be using it all day every day, so we don't need a Smithsonian-level set-up.

Any recommendations? Anything you hated?

From what I've seen, it's literally impossible

Our museum is undergoing a major rebrand and constructing a new building, so we’re looking to elevate our merchandise game in a big way! We plan to design everything in-house, but we’re shifting toward a more artsy and creative direction—meaning we need retailers who can go beyond the standard small logo prints.

We're looking for high-quality retailers who offer custom printing on a variety of products (apparel, totes, accessories, etc.), ideally with full-coverage printing for apparel or unique placement options. Sustainability and ethical production are also a huge plus!

If you’ve worked with any great companies for custom museum merch, I’d love your recommendations! Bonus points for vendors who accommodate smaller batches or flexible order sizes.

Thanks in advance for any insights!

Currently a curator with an MA making 52k and considering going back to school to get an MLIS. I see librarian and archivist jobs posted online and they seem to have better compensation, which is increasingly becoming more important for me in this American economic climate. To all of the archivists & librarians out there is this true? And what is your compensation if you don’t mind me asking?

I was invited as a featured presenter at an academic conference on some personal research and work I’ve been doing for the last few years on community engagement. They are asking for my headshot and title and organization, but I’m not sure if I’ll be in this role for more than another year or two since it’s grant funded.

My employer would be happy for me to share the spotlight, and there is some overlap in this research and in my current role as a department director in presenting at conferences. But again, this nomination was purely off of my own work as an artist and community arts research and did not come through any channels connected to my employment at the organization.

What should I do here? Do I list my name and “artist and director of x for x organization” or just add in my organization info in my bio and list my name and “ artist & community engagement specialist”.

Need to make a decision ASAP.

So I have a collection of slides that were housed in PVC sleeves that are showing some acid damage on the paper borders. I’m gathering supplies to rehouse them and a colleague suggested that we should “clean them” somehow to reduce the degradation. However from what I understand the acid would be absorbed into the slides and there’s nothing we can do? Thoughts?